Runaway
by Avenshar
Summary: Jack sets out to find Riddick five years after their escape from T2. Adien, determined not to be left behind, stows away on the ship.That was only the begining. A classic story of love, betrayal and adventure. Eventual JR, discounts CoR
1. Chapter 1

**A/N M'kay guys, this is my first story so be gentle with your comments. But if I've totally botched it feel free to tell me. This first chapter is really short and I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update the story 'cause I just sort of wrote this as a spur-of-the-moment type thing. I am looking for a beta so if you'd like to offer your services just say something in your review. Okay, on with the story! **

Running, Adien leapt over an empty box in the street and dashed into a narrow alleyway. Dead end. "Shit." She looked around franticly and spotted a small dumpster. As she scrambled up it and climbed to the roof Adien grinned, that old man couldn't reach her now. She laid down flat and peeked over the edge of the roof, eyes widening. _That's not Imam… _Gulping, Adien rolled onto her back and tried to slow her racing heart and quickened breathing. She knew the holy man's personal charge was well a well-trained woman. Even if Jack couldn't see her, she would hear her.

Adien had watched Jack train day after day and had even begun to copy her. At first she was sure she hadn't been spotted but on the 4th day the Jack had silently padded over and corrected the 15-year-old girl's stance. Since then they had trained together, Jack using the same routine, Adien slowly and painfully trying to work her way up. She wasn't anything great yet, but could hold her own in some light sparring.

"Adien, I know you're up there," Jack called. Wincing, the runaway rolled over and looked down.

"Ah, hehe. Hi Jack…"

"Why'd you run this time? Imam wouldn't give me the details, just said you'd busted out and that he was getting too old to chase after you himself," she finished with a mock glare as she climbed up to sit next to the girl.

"Training." Adien mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said training! Imam wants me to stop training with you. He says I'm getting too violent," the girl finished.

"Well, you did punch that kid in the marketplace the other day. And that shopkeeper from a few weeks ago? Yeah, he came by yesterday and said he still has bruises." Jack said, trying desperately to hide the fact that she was proud of the younger girl's increasing abilities, even if she was putting them to use in the wrong places.

"They both deserved it," the girl said, " The boy was a thief and the shopkeeper's prices were outrageous!"

"Of course.C'mon kid, let's get back to the house. It's getting dark and I can almost smell dinner. And if you promise not to break out again I'll see what I can do about the holy man. Deal?"

Shaking the outstretched hand, Adien replied, "Deal. Hey Jack, after dinner could you tell me another story? About Riddick?"

Imam had found Adien when she was 10, an orphan like Jack. For the first few weeks after he 'adopted' her she had been frightened of lonely, reclusive Jack. Until Jack had started talking about Riddick, telling her the stories he had told about the places he'd been and the people he'd met in his life. After he had left her with Imam in New Mecca those stories had kept back the darkness that threatened to overwhelm her. They did the same for this girl, if not for the same reasons. For here they were nice little stories about a made-up man doing made-up things. For Jack they were the only connection she had to her savoir/idol except the pair of black goggles he'd left her, promising he'd be back for them. Jumping down to the dumpster and to the ground Jack watched as Adien did the same and said "Imam is probably getting worried, let's hurry." Adien snorted in disbelief as she raced after Jack along the path that she had bolted through only a little while ago.

* * *

Arriving at the house, Adien quickly ran up to her room to avoid Imam. Even though Jack had promised to talk to him, she didn't want to take any chances. Jack greeted Imam and hurriedly showered and dressed for dinner, pulling on a pair of black sweats and a gray tank with a half zipped sweatshirt. Helion Prime was a planet with a desert climate, boiling days and freezing nights. 

Smells of exotic spices and flavored meats wafted up the stairs and both Jack and Adien followed them to the kitchen. At times Jack marveled at how much Adien reminded her of herself not only in mannerisms and character but in appearance as well. Trying to clear her head, Jack took a seat across from Imam and next to Adien. Though dinner was silent it wasn't an uncomfortable one. After dinner Jack offered to help clean up while Adien got ready for bed.

Carrying the dishes to the sink Jack said, "So Adien told me you wanted her to stop training with me. Any particular reason for that?"

Sighing, Imam looked up at his charge from the soapy water in the sink. He remembered when she had first begun to live with him after Riddick left. She had been withdrawn, bitter, quiet and scared. He still didn't know where she came from originally, but she said that the last place she remembered being before the crash was Erdith. It was a large city on the same planet they had picked Adien up on during one of Imam's trips.

"Imam? Imam? Earth to Imam, come in Imam!" Jack called.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"I asked you why don't you want Adien training with me any more?" she said, wondering where the man's mind had been.

"I understand your reasons for training the way you do child, but why should the girl train as well? She has no reason to wear herself out day after day. If it were just for her health it would be different but it's not. Do you realize she wants to be just like you? But she is not going to be chasing an escaped ex-convict across the galaxy," he finished quietly.

"How did you know? Am I really that obvious?"

"No child, not to those who do not know you as well as I. You have become restless of late, the look in your eyes every time to gaze towards the heavens speaks of an unfulfilled longing. I know you will want to leave soon. And when you do rest assured that Adien will be safe here."

At the top of the stairs Adien sat listening to the conversation below. _Why is Jack leaving? Where's she going? And why the hell is she chasing an ex-convict?!_ She listened for a little longer to make sure they weren't discussing anything important.

Just as she was about to go to her room she heard Imam say,"So, do you know where Riddick is? I hope you don't intend to wander the galaxies searching for him."

_Riddick? The Riddick of Jack's stories?_ This was getting weird now. Finally deciding to return to her room as Jack and Imam finished Adien pulled out a notebook from her drawer. It served as a journal/sketchbook for her where she had included all of the stories Jack had told her. Flipping through it she found her favourite one about him landing himself in a triple-max slam just to get a shine job on his eyes. "So you can see who's sneaking up on you in the dark," she whispered, remembering Jack's words. Before now these stories had all been fake, nothing but smoke and mirrors. Now they took on a new life.

**So what do you think? Should I continue? It was going to end way up there where the line is but I decided to be generous. If you're nice and review, I just might give you something...**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! Finally, the second chapter. Took me long enough eh? This one is a little longer than the first and goes a little more in depth. I still haven't found a beta so if you would like to offer your services..nudge nudge. Okay, on with the story!**

Next to the last story, one about the convict in a transport ship with his least-favourite merc, Adien had drawn him as she saw him. Tall, bald and menacing with his ever present black goggles he stood in cargo pants and a black wife beater on the surface of a god-forsaken planet with the sun behind him and a shiv in his hand. The image was from a nightmare she had had once, where she was trapped on this hellish planet with winged demons chasing her. But then Riddick had appeared slicing and slashing, hacking them all to bits. When she woke up she had immediately set to drawing it. Now it was finished, if not coloured, and she decided to show it to Jack when she came up in a few minutes.

Slipping into her Pj's she crawled onto the bed and leaned back against the headboard and clutched a pillow to her chest as she examined the sketch. Surely he wasn't real, this Riddick fellow. Adien was started from her thoughts when Jack knocked softly on her door.

"Adien, you dressed in there?" she called.

"Yeah, come on in." Jack walked in and sat cross-legged on the bed across from Adien, ready to begin her story when she saw the notebook the girl had in her hands.

"What's this?" Jack asked, plucking it from the girl's unresisting hands.

"Who's…?" Jack trailed off, looking closely at the sketch. Adien watched for a reacting as the older girl's eyes darted from the notebook to her face.

"It's Riddick, right? He's not just some guy in a story though is he? He's real..." Adien said quietly.

She watched as Jack swallowed convulsively and wondered why she was so shocked by the picture. She had heard the description of him a hundred times, was it really so unbelievable that she could draw him? Even her discovery of his existence shouldn't have shocked her this much. Heaving a ragged sigh, Jack looked up at Adien.

"I've got one more story to tell you. You haven't heard this on before. In fact, there's on one that even knows this story save me, Imam and…Riddick. Well, no one that's still alive at least." With that, Jack launched into a fantastic tale of convicts, monsters, love and escape. She didn't leave out anything, even when she wished she could have. The tale went on and on and didn't stop at the escape from T2 but continued to the telling of all those familiar stories by Riddick during their long days in space. The story went right up to her last day with him. There she had to stop, unable to continue because of the burning feeling in her throat.

"Jack? Jack? Come on Jack, what happened?" the girl wondered what had made jack stop so suddenly. After a moment she put the pieces together, since Riddick obviously wasn't here any more that must mean that-

"He left. About a week after we got here he slipped off during the night. I wanted to go after him, to stay with him but Imam held me here, even locked me in my room once. I guess it was for the best. Riddick apparently didn't want me around. Didn't want to have to bother with looking after me, taking care of me. The only thing that kept me 'sane' was his stories. Even now I wonder what stories he's making, which mercs he's running from. I might be leaving in a few days. When I do, I want you to stay here, okay?" she finished, looking at the younger girl seated across from her. Adien glanced up, putting on a mischievous grin.

"You gonna go find him? Riddick I mean. He must mean a lot to you. And when you do I promise I won't chase after you." Looking at her clock, Adien saw that it was almost 1:30 in the morning. The story had taken longer then she had expected. Jack turned to look at the clock as well and said,

"K kid, we can talk more about this tomorrow. Right now we both need to get to bed." Adien slipped under her blankets as Jack quietly padded out of the room. Reaching over she turned off her lamp and laid on her back as the stared into the darkness thinking. _So it's true. Riddick is really. But what's with jack? She seems almost obsessed with finding him now. And what about imam? The lover of all that is holy and righteous seems fine with her risking her neck to go find some killer._

Slowly Adien drifted into a fitful sleep full of dreams in which she saw her drawn black and white Riddick slipping out the window and into the night. In another she was floating on her back in a great ocean. She felt peaceful, calm like she hadn't been in years. Breathing deeply she dove beneath the surface expecting to see the sandy bottom but finding only more water, extending forever beneath her. As she swam on, she realized she didn't feel any need to breath. By this time the dream had become lucid and she knew it was just a dream. But she was happy just floating for the night.

The next morning when Adien woke up she could already smell breakfast cooking downstairs. Rolling out of bed she grabbed some clothes and headed for the bathroom. As she got cleaned up and dressed she thought about last night and what jack and told her. She decided to talk with her about it after breakfast. With her stomach growling Adien went down stairs and found imam finishing touches on their food. As she took her usual seat at the table Adien saw Jack coming down the stairs looking tired. Imam looked up with a knowing smile.

"Up late?" Glaring, Jack growled something vaguely menacing. Definitely not a morning person. As for being up late, after she left Adien's room jack went back to her own to make guilt free plans. Since Adien had promised to stay she didn't feel nearly so bad about leaving to chase her convict. It wasn't that she was worried about the girl not being able to handle herself in the world outside. She knew she could, just like Jack had. But she also knew of Riddick's unconscious charisma, the animalistic magnitude that had drawn in Fry and herself. It got Fry killed and ended Jack waiting for five years for him to return. Not anymore though. She was taking things into her own hands, going out to find him herself.

She had hacked into countless merc's systems looking for info on him. Finally, about six months ago, she found him. That is to say, Tombs found him for her. She remembered Riddick's stories about this guy. He said he was heartless, greedy and cruel: sounded like every other merc. Other than Johns, this was the only man Riddick had ever set out to kill and let live. Johns had been dealt with so this Tombs guy was next.

Jack figured she'd leave by the end of the week, which gave her three days to pack up, buy a ship and supplies and say goodbye to the only family she had ever really known. Searching around her room she picked out her warmest clothes and a few outfits for the ship. Lupus 5 was bloody cold and Jack didn't want to freeze to death before she even saw Riddick. Next she searched the house, trying to remember where her stashes of credit chips were. Jack knew she could have given them to Imam for safe keeping but she'd rather know exactly where her money was at all times. Picking up a small vase she removed the false base and took out a small silicon chip. She doubted even Imam knew about this one. When she had stashed everything away she had told him where to find it all, in case he should ever be in need of them. Except for this one; it was the only other thing she had from Riddick.

"If things don't work out with the holy man," he'd said, "take this and get yourself a ship. I know you can take care of yourself." Five years later and it remained untouched. Now she planned to use it to buy herself a small ship just like he had intended. Dropping the chip in to a small black bag, she quickly stuffed it into one of her pockets and sprinted up the stairs with renewed exhilaration about her search.

**A/N:Tada! Second chapter done. Any good this time? Thanks to my first reviewers! I've done some thinking about where the story is going and it'll get kind of dark later, but that won't be for a while so enjoy it while you can. As for updates, I've got about half of the next chapter on paper but due to computer problems at home (I'm using my friend's laptop right now) I might not be able to get it typed up for a while. **

**UPDATE! I've got the next chapter done, all that needs to be done now is the typing it up part and getting it beta'd...I'm really sorry for all the delays so early in the story but since it's summer now I should be able to get a few more chapters up. I'm not promising any regularity but check back every now and then, I might surprise ya!**

**Another update...: Yeah, so about all those great updates I promised over the summer..School just started again so I'm writing more regularly and now that I've got most of my stuff unpacked from the move I should be able to start updating. I've gotten several chapters worth written, it's just the whole 'getting it typed and uploaded' part that's taking me soooo long.**

**ClaudZion- Thanks! I've been on the site for a while and just picked up the dialogue style.**

**BatPhace- I'm glad you liked it! As you can see, I have continued the story a bit more. If you'd like to beta for me just e-mail me sometime and I'll send you my latest draft.**

**FemmePhantom- It might not be as 'fun' as you think to see them all together...**

**FluidDegree- Tooms may be putting in an appearance. hint hint**

**PagingDrHouse-Furyan Goddess- Wow, I love your name! I'll be updating soon, so don't worry.  
**


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